Blog « Antemortem Arts | Art & Writing by Amy Crook

Blue Lotus

Posted on May 19th, 2010

Blue Lotus, detail, by Amy Crook

Blue Lotus, detail, by Amy Crook

I did a few monoprints along this vein, but I think this one was my favorite. Though named for a blue lotus, it always looked a bit more like a morning glory to me, just opening up for the day with dew dripping off the blue petals. The small 3-inch-square image floats on a larger sheet of paper, a single blossom in a pool of white.

Blue Lotus by Amy Crook

Blue Lotus by Amy Crook

Blue Lotus, 3″x3″ monoprint on 6″x11.5″ watercolor paper.

The other two monoprints in the series are here and here.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Graveyard

Posted on May 18th, 2010

Graveyard by Amy Crook

Graveyard by Amy Crook

If you’re at all into genre fiction & television, you might want to click this one to read the headstones. I was feeling pretty silly, so there’s a bunch of silly pop culture references lurking in amongst the uneasy dead. Note the dandelion, the black cat, and of course the zombie hand bursting up out of Mr. Addams’ grave.

Graveyard, 5″x7″ pen and ink on watercolor paper.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Card Design, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Untitled Experiment 1

Posted on May 17th, 2010

Untitled Experiment 1 by Amy Crook

Untitled Experiment 1 by Amy Crook

I painted this a few years back when I was experimenting with a lot of different styles. In this one there’s a lot of visual texture, as well as a bit of gloss in the periwinkle rectangle from the painting medium that also gave it its transparency. People have asked me what it’s supposed to be or mean, and I have to admit that I just liked the way it looks. I like that something as simple as four overlapping rectangles gets a lot of complexity from little brush strokes, variations in color and opacity and even the softness of the edges.

This piece isn’t edge-finished yet, but I plan to paint over the white edges & staples with black so it could be hung without a frame. Well, I hang it without a frame anyway, but I’m special like that.

Untitled Experiment 1, 18″x24″ oil on canvas.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Sandman

Posted on May 16th, 2010

Sandman by Amy Crook

Sandman by Amy Crook

I started reading The Sandman about 1/3 of the way through its run, and was instantly a fan. I collected them for a long time, and this is one of many doodles I’ve done of the titular character.

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Belladonna

Posted on May 15th, 2010

Belladonna by Amy Crook

Belladonna by Amy Crook

This is a messy little doodle of one of my kitties, Belladonna, as seen from behind. She likes to curl up in bed with me whenever I’m reading, writing or drawing, and so I took a few minutes to build up this sketch of her from behind. Her markings are actually a little less defined than the ones in the sketch, but I thought a little extra stripeyness added definition to what was otherwise the big furry blob of her body. Her tail kept twitching while I drew, I think she knew I was looking at her and wanted to be left to nap in peace.

Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
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Mermaid

Posted on May 14th, 2010

Mermaid by Amy Crook

Mermaid by Amy Crook

I painted this piece a few years back when I was just learning how to use my watercolors, and trying to wean myself off the temptation to paint everything in pure pigments. She ended up with an abstract, stormy quality to her, the muted tones setting off the burst of glowing mystery in her hand. I imagine she’s out on a rock on a shoreline somewhere, drawing magic down from the clouds to sustain herself.

Mermaid, 12″x16″ watercolor on watercolor paper, sold.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Fire Briar Rose

Posted on May 13th, 2010

Fire Briar Rose by Amy Crook

Fire Briar Rose by Amy Crook

This is a doodle of a fictional construct, a flower with 7 petals, 7 leaves, and 7 thorns. The thorns and leaves make a spiral going up the stem, one opposite the other so they frame the flower perfectly when viewed from above. The rose itself has char-black edges on the petals, which turn red and then orange, the center of the flower glowing like hot coals. The whole plant is barely 3″ tall, growing in singular solitude on the floor of certain magical forests.

I don’t think that all of this got conveyed in the doodle, but there’s only so much one can do with pencil. Still, it helped to have something concrete to think about when I was working on the story that featured the fire briar rose.

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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